Does the cork show that a wine is corked?

[Zinner]

There is nothing that you will see on the cork to tip you off that a wine is corked. It's nothing you can see with your eyes. (Corks can look funky and still be good.) It's a chemical compound, trichloroanisole (TCA) from a tainted cork. Occurs from a reaction from the bleaching process and molds in the cork.

Where you'll notice it is in the nose...musty smell sort of like moldy cardboard. It's distinctive and when you've experienced it, you'll learn to recognize it. If you're at a tasting and somebody reliable recognizes a corked bottle, try to get a whiff, so you'll know. Also the wine won't taste as good, though it won't hurt you to drink it. Corked wines tend to lose their fruitiness.

Sometimes wines have off-putting aromas that have nothing to do with being corked, but a lot of these will "blow off" if you let the wine breathe a bit. If the wine is corked, it'll just get worse as it sits.

It's been a major problem for the wine industry, so after much experimentation with alternative closures, a number have decided that a special form of screwcap is the best answer, if they can get consumers to accept it. Bonny Doon has gone to screwcaps. A number of New Zealand wineries banded together to go to screwcaps. R.H. Phillips has put up a website at corkamnesty.com.

The biggest problem for the wine industry is not refunding your money for the bottles that are corked. It's the chance that a consumer will get a corked bottle and not recognize it as corked. Then the winedrinker just thinks that winery makes bad wine and won't buy it again.

Expect to see more and more screwcaps. But it's a good thing.